I will write ten posts on this 5th Retirement Anniversary addressing each category or "Label." I can also see the stats and which posts have had the most public views. At this time, my blog had 22,400 views. That's about 100 views per week in 18 different countries around the world! It is very rewarding to know that there is interest in what I have to say. By helping myself I must be helping others with similar interests. It is an incentive to continue.
Here are my brief summaries of the first five years of retirement and goal adjustments I want to make at this time. If you want more information on a subject, please scroll down on the right side of the main page and click on the first months in 2011 where you will see where I'm coming from.
My journey continues....
Family Time and Genealogy
I value my family more than anything in my life! I appreciate any time that family wants to give me and I am the one with the most flexible lifestyle and availability in retirement. My husband's work schedule has been tolerable and in a couple more years he joins me in retirement. Until then, I travel by myself to see my family mostly. Together we travel to see his family in Iowa and he recently lost his older brother which was sad. We are preparing for my husband's retirement in many ways which brings us closer. We will be celebrating 43 years of marriage in a few months. Life is good!
Our son and daughter, along with their spouses, are very busy. Each has moved three times since I retired five years ago. Both are in their mid-30's living their own lives, making their own choices, and keeping to themselves for the most part. I would like to be more involved in their lives but it is their call, not mine, at this point. I am more involved in my son's life through both our efforts and it makes me very happy! My daughter has decreased her family involvement since I retired and that makes me sad. I am hopeful that will change when she is ready to make more of an effort. There are no grandchildren to help keep us all connected.
My two older brothers are close to retirement. I am grateful for their efforts to keep our relationship active. My Iowa brother visits me in Missouri every year for two full days. I come to Iowa 1-2 times per year most years as my husband is from the adjacent town and most of his relatives are nearby. I am hoping that my brother will take more time for me when he retires and we can enjoy each other more often. My Virginia brother visits me infrequently and only for a short time. I go to Virginia each year to see him and his daughter's family. The past couple years, I have reduced my time to 1-2 days as he says his house is no longer available to me due to remodeling and I must pay for a motel. We may increase our time together after his retirement and his move to a new "over 55" housing development. It would be nice for him to visit me more as I have lots of comfortable space in my Missouri home.
I have seen most all of my brothers' family at one time or another since I retired including my brothers' children and grandchildren. There was my son's awesome wedding in 2012, meeting my daughter's new husband in 2014, one niece's wedding in 2016 and the birth of four of my other niece's nine children since 2010. One brother has welcomed three great-grandchildren in recent years. I keep up with the nieces and nephews mostly on Facebook. My brothers do not do social media although one brother does some email.
I have completed the Zabransky/Osius/Hudak Family Tree since I retired which was a lot of work! I had wonderful help for my maternal Hudak family from my Slovak cousin's daughter who I have had a relationship with since the mid-1990's when she contacted me after her grandmother's death (my aunt). She has since married an American and had four children with a fifth one arriving anytime now! They all live in Slovakia and do missionary work. The biggest surprise came about a year ago when I was contacted by a cousin from my paternal Zabransky side from the Czech Republic! His grandfather and my grandmother were brother and sister! I was so grateful that he found reference to my grandmother in my blog and was curious to seek me out. We both discovered new family members and our relationship is ongoing through email.
I made nine copies of the family tree; three for me and my two children and for my brothers and their two children each. I gave copies to my European cousins of their specific family. I am hopeful that at least one of the children or their offspring will be inspired to keep it going for future generations.
I am hopeful that family time will increase. I understand that I am the one that adjusts to other people's work schedules and am willing to work with any relative that shows effort and desire to keep up relationships. I understand that many of my relatives have priorities and this may not be the best time for them to include me in their lives. It is their choice and they will have to live with the decisions they make. I did the same with my parents who died in 1990 and 1993 during the busiest time of my life when my children were small and my career just starting to be secure. I did find time to keep in contact with my parents by phone and written letters that I keep as memories of them. I did visit them during the first ten years of my children's lives. I miss them and the empty space they leave in my heart remains open waiting for more family to fill. I will keep trying with the family I have that will reciprocate.
One of my retirement plans was to digitize all the 40+ years of hard copy photo albums and make them accessible and organized in a creative way. I have done some of this creating music albums used in my blog and sent to my children of their early childhood. I can stay very busy with this project that is easily put down and picked up at any time. This helps me get through lonely times when it seems nobody has time for me and I am available. It keeps family close to my heart.
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